Greece may fail to make next IMF debt repayment – Syriza spokesman

Greece won’t be able to pay the next tranche of 300 million euros to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 5 unless it receives extra financial aid from creditors, according to a senior member of the ruling party.

“Now is the moment that negotiations are coming to a head.
Now is the moment of truth, on June 5,” Nikos Filis,
spokesman for Syriza party’s lawmakers, told ANT1 TV channel.
“If there is no deal by then that will address the current
funding problem, they won’t get any money.”

Talks between Greece and its creditors reached a stalemate over
Athens’ refusal to carry out labor and pension reforms, as well
as to lower fiscal targets established within the framework of
the bailout program. However, Athens has made a number of
concessions, including the imposition of a special tax on bank
transactions to help raise revenue, says Reuters, quoting two
sources familiar with the matter.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has confirmed that the levy was
about to be enacted and added that Athens had an alternative to
its own plans for a tax hike, which was one of the key issues in
the talks.

In an interview with British Channel 4, Varoufakis made it clear
that if Greece fails to reach negotiations with lenders, the
government will have to give pensioners and public sector workers
priority.

Earlier he said that Athens will sign an agreement with
international creditors within the following week, adding that
Greece was “very close” to reaching a deal, denying the
country planned to withdraw from the Eurozone. Last week Greece
managed to repay 750 million euros to the IMF on time.

The country’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to
present a restructuring plan for Greek public debt at an upcoming
summit of EU leaders at which restoration of Greece’s economic
growth will be discussed.